Persona 4: Azure Guardian
by AccessBlade
Summary: Alyson James goes to Yasoinaba Japan to study abroad for two years. She expects to perfect her Japanese and learn more about the culture. She doesn't expect to be involved in murders, television worlds, or the ability to summon things called "Personas".
1. We drive on the left side

**Well, I was originally going to do a one-shot, but then I thought about all of my other stories. They're one shots! Most of them anyways, and the ones that aren't I know I'm not going to complete any time soon. So.... this is going to be made into a story. Which hopefully, I can finish. So during the long intervals of when I don't update, please be patient. I still have a life of my own and if I don't do well in school (starting in September) my parents are going to cut off my internet. **

**Okay, now that I've finished that part let's get on with the story. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Persona series, just my character Alyson. **

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**We Drive on the left side  
**

Alyson James stood up as it was announced that people looking to go to Inaba City as well as Yasoinaba station were supposed to get off at this terminal. That's what she could gather from the mentions of Inaba and Yasoinaba anyways. Pulling out a crumpled piece of paper from the right pocket of her jeans, she read the instructions her mom had written down for her. Get off at the Yasogami terminal then get onto the train heading towards Yasoinaba.

The girl sighed as she slipped the paper into her pocket again. Who knew there could be so many instructions just to get to ONE place? But then again, her mother worried a lot about her. And she was in a different country where signs were written in a different language. Thank god her mother made sure that it was all burned into her memory.

Strapping on her backpack and dragging the travel bag behind her (it had wheels), she boarded the train that the sign specified would head to Yasoinaba. Not too many people were getting on board the train; Alyson noted that there was one other boy who was around her age. He had neatly trimmed silver hair and gray eyes. Also, he was wearing a school uniform. If the manga versions of school uniforms were anything to go by. The reason she also noticed him was that he had just been on the train she got off.

Finding an empty seat, she sat down and resisted the sleep that was threatening to over come her.

Japan was fourteen hours ahead of California and the trip from Los Angeles to Tokyo had been 11 hours and 20 minutes. Alyson had gotten at least three hours of sleep, but it was hard to sleep on a plane. Once she had gotten to Japan, she couldn't afford to fall asleep in case she missed the stations she was suppose to get off. Grabbing the can of coffee she had bought at a vending machine, she opened it and drank half of the contents in two gulps. Hopefully, this would hold her up until it was time to go to bed.

Jet lag could be a real pain in the ass.

Staring out the window just made her sleepy so tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, she bent down and pulled out a small photo album. It was something Alyson's friends had whipped up when they heard about her two year stay in Japan. They had been upset at first, demanding why she had to move to a different country. Eventually, they understood that this was something that she wanted and instead of continuing to complain about it, they whipped up a photo album where they wrote comments differing from demanding her to get them a souvenir to wishing her good luck and that could she please email them once in a while.

Alyson read through the comments for a fifth time since she had arrived in the Country.

* * *

"Alyson! Over here!" Once again, the girl had been dragging her heavy travel bag she had made the mistake of letting her mom pack when she heard someone call her name. Looking up, she saw a dark haired brunette frantically waving her arm with a hand cupped over her mouth. This was definitely the person who called out to Alyson.

She looked about nineteen; too young to be her mom's friend. So she was probably the daughter.

"Alyson James, right?" The older girl asked once she came over. "Mom was right when she said I'd be able to easily tell who you were."

"Do I stand out that much?" Alyson asked as she tugged on her platinum blonde hair.

"A little." The girl blurted out, then bit her lip. "Okay, maybe a lot. But it's nothing to be ashamed of." Holding out her hand, she introduced herself. "Sakura Koyoru. I mean, Koyoru Sakura. Koyoru's my first name."

"Alyson James," She shook her hand.

"Sorry mom couldn't make it, but she was busy writing a report for her boss. She says to tell you that she's sorry about this and that she'd see you later tonight.... that is _if _you haven't passed out yet."

They began walking towards a Silver Honda Civic when Koyoru stopped to wave at a man with a jacket slung over his shoulder. He had a bit of a grubby appearance but seemed friendly enough. Standing shyly behind him was a little girl with her hair tied up in two pony tails behind her head. The man was talking to the silver haired boy who she saw board the Yasoinaba train.

"Dojima-san!"

The man turned towards them and waved in return. Grabbing Alyson's hand, Koyoru dragged her along towards them.

"Hey," The man greeted them both. He looked Alyson up and down once before smiling. "So this is the famous American your mom told me she was going to look after for two years."

"Famous American...?" Alyson could feel her face growing hot. Both the little girl and the boy her age were staring at her. Alyson was self conscious and felt VERY uncomfortable about being in the spot light when surrounded by people she didn't know.

"Yeah... mom told our neighbours and her co-workers about you." Koyoru sighed. "Practically everyone in Inaba knows about you now."

Alyson didn't say anything in fear that her voice would crack. This was a small town, so news probably spread around fast but...

"Never mind about that, we don't bite." Dojima laughed. "I'm Dojima Ryotaro, and we're one of your neighbours. Koyoru lives about three houses away from us."

In turn, he introduced the boy and girl. The silver haired boy was Souji Seta, his nephew and the son of his older sister. Like Alyson, he was going to be a transfer student and a second year at Yasogami High School. He was staying in Yasoinaba for a year because his parents were going to work overseas. The small brown haired girl who hid behind him was his daughter, Nanako.

"I'm.... James Alyson? I mean, Alyson James. James is my last name."

"Um... hi," Nanako said shyly.

"Nice to meet you," Souji said, shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you..." Alyson said quietly, shaking his hand in return.

"Well then.... let's get going. My car's over there." Dojima hoisted his jacket even higher on his shoulder. He pointed across the parking lot. Waving good bye, Dojima walked to his car with his nephew and daughter in tow. "And Koyoru? Try not to drive straight into a lamp post this time."

"That was one time! One time!"

Dojima laughed at Alyson's expression of having to be in the same car of someone who drove into a street lamp.

Alyson followed Koyoru who used the mini remote to open unlock the doors. As Koyoru threw her travel bag into the back, Alyson entered the right side of the car only to find that the steering wheel was in front of her.

"Alyson...." The sides of Koyoru's mouth twitched. "We drive on the left side here."

"Oh... right." Blushing, Alyson immediately got out of the driver's seat and positioned herself on the left passenger seat. She had forgotten that in Japan, cars were driven on the left side of the roads, so the driver's seat was positioned on the right.

* * *

"Hey Alyson, want to get something?"

"Huh? What?" Said person sat up straight and yawned. She groaned when she realized that she just fell asleep despite the promise that she made herself not too until bed time.

"Want to get something?" Koyoru asked again. " I need to fill up on gas. I was going to earlier, but I would've been late in picking you up. Thank god I had enough gas to drive to the station and back."

"I'll have a coffee. I need the caffeine." Stifling another yawn and stretching her arms, Alyson stepped out of the car and entered the store to try and find coffee. A few minutes later, she came out holding two energy drinks, one of them open.

She saw a Gas Attendant filling up the car, but Koyoru was nowhere in sight.

"Where's the.... er, Koyoru?"

"Oh, if you're asking about the driver she said to tell you she was in the washroom." The Gas Attendant replied."You're not from around here, are you?"

Alyson had been drinking her energy drink, but hearing what the Attendant said made her splutter and choke on it. After a few minutes when she was sure that it was okay to breathe again, Alyson stared at the Attendant.

The Attendant seemed amused as she spoke again. "Sorry about that. But it was kinda obvious. Are you from another country?"

Alyson nodded. What was this person getting at?

"It must be my lucky day. I met a boy around your age earlier from the City. Now I meet someone who's not even from Japan."

"Yes. I came from the US." For some reason, she wanted to get away from the Attendant fast. She had no idea why, she just wanted to.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you."

For the fourth time that day, Alyson shook hands with someone. Letting go, the Attendant got back to her work. Once Koyoru arrived, Alyson nearly entered the right side of the car again before catching herself and seating herself properly on the left.

All of a sudden, her sight seemed to waver and her head was pounding. She felt very close to vomiting but kept her mouth firmly shut. Everything seemed to be spinning. And then seconds later, she was fine again. What the heck was that? Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to drink all those coffees and that energy drink so that she wouldn't fall asleep. For nearly over thirteen hours, she stayed awake.

Alyson yawned.

Forget waiting for tonight to fall asleep.

She was tired and she was going to sleep NOW.

* * *

**Auggh, who knew writing one chapter could hurt your eyes? Anyways, to those who've played the game, they'll know exactly what happened to Alyson. But if you haven't, you could either wait until I finish this story or you could go to Wikipedia and spoil what happened. It's your choice. So until then, I hope you enjoy the first chapter. Don't worry, the other characters will appear more in this story.  
**


	2. First day of school

**Hi, I just thought I'd arrange things on this chapter a bit!**

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**First day of School**

"It's actually a boxed lunch." Alyson stated as she examined the many compartment lunch box that Sakura Sayoko had made for her. After sleeping the entire afternoon, evening, and night Alyson had felt as right as rain when she came down for breakfast.

The American had known things would be different in Japan, but she didn't realize the extent of the difference. Even bathing was different!

Sayoko smiled. Once Alyson had woken up, she introduced herself as Koyoru's mother and began giving her a tour of the house; showing where the different rooms were. There were three different rooms for the toilet, sink and the bathing room or _ofuro_ as Sayoko had called it. She showed the girl how the ofuro worked and had smiled sympathetically at Alyson's groan when the girl saw the toilet. She had to SQUAT if she wanted to do her business.

They then proceeded downstairs where Alyson was introduced to her husband, Keitaro. He grinned and told that when he carried Alyson up to her room, she had been out like a light.

"Did you think they didn't exist?" Sayoko asked in perfect English, giggling at Alyson's stunned expression.

"N-no! It's just that I've seen these in manga before, not in real life!" She replied. "So, um, what's in this Sayoko-san?" She asked, remembering to add the prefix on the end.

"Let's see.... rice, omelet, carrots, and apple." She listed them off. "I'm sorry if you don't like those foods, but I wasn't sure if you liked raw fish or pickled vegetables. I'll ask you later tonight what you want, alright?"

Alyson nodded, setting the box containing her lunch on the table top.

"Good morning mom!" Koyoru said cheerfully as she bounded down the stairs wearing a black jacket combined with a white blouse, blue tie, and skirt. Not the sailor suit uniform or seifuku Alyson was expecting. She stopped when she saw Alyson. "Oh, you aren't dressed in your uniform yet?"

Looking down, the blonde haired girl realized she was still wearing yesterday's clothing. "Um... no."

"It's by the stairway sweetheart." Sayoko said, making another lunch.

Koyoru grabbed the bag sitting by the side and the next thing she knew, Alyson was running upstairs with the other girl dragging her.

* * *

"Oh, it's you." Seta Souji, turned around to face Alyson who had been the one to address him. He was wearing the same thing he wore yesterday and she wondered if that was the regulation uniform for the school she was attending. She'd been focused on the silver haired boy that she nearly missed Nanako, his younger cousin. Shifting her umbrella so that rain would stop dripping into her bag, she walked up to them.

"Oh! Hi!" Nanako greeted her.

"Hi." Alyson said back, smiling at the little girl. It was hard not to be cheerful around her. She turned to Seta. "Yasogami High School?" She asked him.

He nodded.

"Can I come along with you? Sayoko-san told me where it was but I'm still not sure where it is and I REALLY don't want to be late."

For the first time since he met him, she could have sworn that Souji had smiled. "Sure. My cousin's showing me where the school is actually, so I guess she'll have to tell us both where it is."

"Mm!" Nanako nodded. She began leading the way while Souji and Alyson followed her, conversing.

"You're from America?" Souji asked.

"Yes, California. It's always sunny there but the rainy seasons could be pretty brutal too." She waved her umbrella. She hadn't even thought of bringing one when she came to Japan so the one she was using belonged to Koyoru. When she got the chance, Alyson was going to buy one from one of the stores.

"How's it going for you? I mean, you also moved here just yesterday." Alyson stated trying to get the conversation flowing. She wasn't good at starting conversations, but she was good at keeping them going. Well, depending on who she was talking to.

"It's.... really not that different from all the other times. But this time I had to move in with my uncle." Surprised by the bitterness in his voice, Alyson turned her head slightly to stare at him. So he had to move a lot. It must be difficult for him.

Alyson remembered that her parents had to move to from New York to California thanks to her dad asking to be transferred to Grass Valley, which was located in the Nevada County. It had been hard for her to adjust to her new surroundings as well as to have left her friends. And Souji had done it more than once? She couldn't blame him for being bitter about it.

She was about to ask him if he kept in touch with the friends he made in the other places he had lived when Nanako stopped and told them that their school was just up ahead. They waved good bye to the girl before heading to where she had pointed. The silence between them was deafening as Alyson was at a loss at what to say and Souji seemed fine with the silence.

"Huh?" Alyson noticed that a boy going to the same school as them was trying to ride his bike and hold his umbrella at the same time. He wasn't having much luck with it and to make matters worse, he crashed in to the pole.

"Are you okay?" She asked him, noticing him clutching down.... there.

He didn't bother to look up. "I'm... fine. Go on ahead without me."

"Are you sure....?"

Still not even bothering to glance at her, he nodded. She looked over at Souji who shrugged and walked away. Taking one last peek at the boy in agony, she followed her neighbour up the hill.

* * *

The teacher was grumbling as he lead them to their classroom. It turned out that they were in the same class as well; much to the chagrin of the buck toothed man. The minute another teacher had introduced them to him as their students, he had given all indication that they were nothing but trouble makers who came from other places to cause nothing but havoc and destruction.

Either that or Alyson was just making a bigger deal out of something she had yet to prove.

The teacher slammed their classroom door open, making her startle in surprise. None the less, she followed after Souji who went in after their new sensei. She had to admire the fellow transfer student's courage.

"Awright, shut your traps!" He screamed, slamming his book on to the desk. As all the students turned towards them, Souji and Alyson were aware that the focus of the room was on them."I'm Morooka Kinshiro, your homeroom teacher from today forward!"

Small groans could be heard from the students but the teacher ignored them. "First things first! Just 'cause it's spring doesn't mean you can swoon over each other like love-struck baboons. Long as I'm around, you students are going to be as pure as the driven snow!"

Souji stared at the teacher while Alyson had to clasp a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from bursting into laughter out loud. What he said was horrible but it was hilarious at the same time.

"Now I hate wasting my time, but I better introduce these transfer students." Grudgingly, he gestured at the two as if they had been invisible the entire time. He started with Souji first. "This sad sack's been thrown from the big city out to the middle of nowhere like yesterday's garbage. And he's just as much of a loser here as he was there, so you girls better not get any ideas about hitting on him!"

Alyson edged, if only slightly, away from the teacher.

Mr. Morooka continued. "Tell 'em your name, kid, and make it quick."

"Are you calling me a loser?" Souji asked the teacher, instead of introducing himself as he was instructed to do. If it had been quiet before, it was silent now. One of the transfer students just back talked a teacher!

It didn't take long for Mr. Morooka to recover. "That's it! You're on my shit list, effective immediately."

Alyson stared open mouthed in horror. "Are you even allowed to do that? You're suppose to be a teacher, not a jail warden!" She burst out before gasping and clasping her hands over her mouth. Great.... she just back talked the teacher too. Now everyone was staring at _her_.

"You're on it too!" Mr. Morooka screamed, making her flinch.

"Now listen up!" This was directed mostly at Souji. "This town is miles away from your big city of perverts and assholes in more ways that one. You better not even think of getting involved with the girls here, let alone abusing them!"

"And now you're stereotyping! What kind of teacher _are _you?" What was with all of these out bursts today? Maybe it was because her teacher had to be the most obnoxious, foul-mouthed.... person she had ever met.

The teacher sneered and it didn't fail to make Alyson more angrier than she already was. Ten minutes within his presence and she wanted to punch his face in. But unfortunately, there was probably something about assaulting your teachers no matter how much of an ass they were. "But what do I know... it's not like the old days. Even here, kids grow up so damn fast. Every time I turn my back, you're fooling around on those damn phones, checking your life-journals and my-places...."

Before they knew it, Mr. Morooka was rambling on and on about how technology had corrupted the youth of today and how back then when _he_ was a child, they didn't have what the damn kids of today had. They had to work unlike the kids of today, and they had punishments that would've put any one in the classroom in their places. But alas, the dumb parents had condemned such acts as cruelty.

Finally, they were spared the rest of what he was going to say when a girl raised her hand and cut in through his lecture. "Excuse me, is it okay if one of the transfers sit here?" She called out.

The girl who had interrupted him had short brown hair and she was wearing a green jacket with yellow stripes. The combination of this gave her a very tomboyish appearance.

"Huh?" He snapped out of his long talk. "Yeah. Sure. You hear that kid? Your seat's over there. So hurry up and siddown already!"

As if to mock him, Souji took his time walking to the desk next to the girl. He wasn't slow, but he wasn't making any effort to get there as fast as he could.

"And as for you...." The teacher drawled.

Alyson gulped. She was alone now and she was certain that she was going to pay for the remarks she made earlier. Mr. Morooka struck her as the grudge holding type and right now was the perfect chance for him to get back at her.

"As you can see, this one isn't even from Japan!" Said Mr. Morooka as he began to 'introduce' her. "Huh, if you weren't from another country I would have made you dye that awful hair color of yours by now!"

Looking down at her feet, Alyson hoped that the class couldn't see her face turning red. She could feel her cheeks tingle; a sign that she was blushing from either anger or embarrassment. In her case right now, it was both.

"She's from the USA, which would explain her obnoxious attitude. And as you can see, she's a blonde." Klaxon bells were going off in her head. She really didn't like where this was going. "So don't make fun of her for not being as smart as you."

Her face was probably bright red by now. She could feel tears beginning to form but she wasn't going to cry; she was definitely not going to cry to give this creep the satisfaction of his little barbs getting to her.

"Now.... introduce yourself to the class."

"Aly....Alsyon James." She said, stammering over the first part.

She could hear the smirk in the teacher's voice. "Alright, that's enough with the introductions. You're seated to the left of the boy who looks dead. Hanamura, wake up you lazy idiot!"

The minute he had dismissed her, she immediately left his side to go to the desk he indicated. Anything to get away from him.

Her seat was across the aisle from the boy who crashed his bike earlier. Dropping her bag on the floor, she folded her arms on top of the desk and buried her head in them. Her first day of school hadn't been very good; not with the teacher who was suppose to teach them.

Alyson sighed. She hoped that it could only get better than this.

**

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**Yeah. The introduction of Morooka Kinshiro, otherwise known as King Moron. **

**Alright, before anyone gets mad at me this really is how Morooka is. He was making a reference to the 'dumb blonde' jokes when he was addressing Alyson. And the assumption that people from North America were obnoxious. So until next time, enjoy.**


	3. Gossip, Rumours, and Fish eyes

**I don't own Persona, if I did, that would be awesome. **

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**Gossip, Rumours, and Fish eyes**

Alyson was eager for class to be over. She could feel the pitying stares of her classmates, which just made her even more embarrassed. She just wanted to go back to Sayoko-san's and forget about what had happened earlier. Unfortunately, she didn't always get what she wanted and today was just going to be one of those days.

The minute Morooka had announced that the day was over, the blonde had jumped out of her seat and was about to make her way out of the classroom when someone spoke on the intercom. She groaned. There went that chance to get away from her peers unnoticed. Already several people were staring at her; one of them happened to be her neighbour.

_"Attention, all teachers." _A smooth female's voice announced. _"Please report immediately to the Faculty Office for a brief staff meeting. All students must return to their classrooms and are not to leave the school until further notice." _

Snorting in disgust, Morooka basically told them the same thing before exiting the room.

Outside, sirens could be heard. Students ran to the window to try and see what was up. Too bad the fog was pretty thick, concealing the view of what might be happening. They murmured amongst themselves but agreed on one thing; the sirens sounded pretty close.

Disappointed that she wasn't going to be able to leave the classroom until they were told to, Alyson trudged back to her desk in time to hear students gossiping. They were talking about a TV Announcer named Yamano Mayumi. Now that she thought about it, that name sounded familiar. Maybe she heard it on the television or somewhere.

As she tried to remember where she heard the name before, the announcer on the intercom spoke again.

_"Attention, all students." _It was the same voice from before. _"There has been an incident inside the school district. Police Officers have been dispatched around the School Zone. Please stay calm and contact your parents or guardians as soon as possible, and leave the school grounds. Do not disturb the police officers. Head directly home. I repeat..." _

No one could hear what else was being said over the intercom as the students in the class buzzed and murmured in excited tones. The warning had had the opposite effect of what it was suppose to do as most people didn't even seem to be listening.

Alyson shook her head. Standing up and taking her bag, she was about to head out the door when she heard someone calling her. Sighing again, she turned to see the brunette who had asked if one of them could sit next to her waving her over. Was she _ever_ going to get home? With great reluctance, Alyson walked over to them.

"Hey, are you two planning on going home by yourselves?" The girl asked when Alyson joined her.

"Yes." Souji and Alyson replied at the same time. They shared a glance; Souji shrugging and Alyson just sighing.

The girl standing next to the one who just spoke was the exact opposite of her friend. She had long raven hair and was wearing a headband over it. Over the regulation uniform, she wore a red long sleeved top. This combined to give her a prim and proper air unlike her friend who had tomboy written all over.

"Why don't you come with us?" The girl who spoke first offered.

Before either of them could accept or decline, she had immediately jumped in to the introductions.

"Oh, nearly forgot! I'm Satonaka Chie." She said, holding out her hand. The two transfers both shook it just to be polite (in Alyson's case). "Well, nice to meet you!"

Chie introduced the raven haired girl next. "This is Amagi Yukiko."

The raven haired girl's head snapped up when Chie elbowed her. She didn't seem to be paying attention to them; staring down at the floor, her eyes glazed over as if she was thinking about something. She stared at her new classmates in confusion before realizing that she was suppose to say something.

"Oh, nice to meet you..." She said slowly. "I'm sorry that this is so sudden..."

"C'mon, don't apologize like that." Chie complained. "It makes me look like I got no upbringing."

It was very tempting for Alyson to reply that her appearance to her forced introductions DID make her look like she had no upbringing. But she remembered that she was staying in this place for two years and that making enemies on your first day of school was one of the dumbest things you could do. Even though just earlier she had condemned herself on being on her homeroom teacher's "shit list".

So Alyson just kept her mouth shut.

Oblivious to Alyson's train of thoughts, Chie continued. "I just wanted to ask some stuff. Really, that's all."

As Chie asked them more questions, a boy who looked like he was going to regret something came up to them.

Alyson realized that this was the same boy she and Souji had encountered earlier. The same boy who had tried to ride his bike and hold an umbrella at the same time. The same boy who had crashed into the pole and had ended up injuring his...

She giggled at the memory and everyone besides Souji stared at her in confusion.

"Uh, umm, Miss Satonaka...?" He sounded very apprehensive. "This was really awesome. Like, the way they moved was just amazing to see..."

Reaching into his bag, he shoved a DVD case right in front of Chie, bowing at the same time. "And... I'm really sorry! It was an accident! Please have mercy until my next paycheck!" When Chie took it from him, he said a quick "Seeya thanks!" before running as fast as he could towards the door.

Unfortunately for him, Chie wasn't going to let him get away. Souji, Alyson, and Yukiko watched the scene unfold in front of them. It consisted of the boy suffering another hit in the nads and Chie discovering that her DVD had cracked.

* * *

The minute she had laid eyes on him, Alyson's first instinct was to walk away as fast as she could. Or grab a baseball bat and hit him over the head with it. He was creepy! Creepy! He looked like the type who stalked girls he had crushes on. But the creepiest part of him were the eyes. They resembled a fish's!

One minute, they had been walking down the hill; the next, fish eye boy had come up to Yukiko calling her Yuki and asked if she wanted to hang out. Alyson took this chance to hide behind Souji who chuckled in amusement. Fish eye boy didn't even seem to notice.

Yukiko was surprised by the fact that the boy seemed familiar with her even though she didn't know him.

To make a long story short, it ended up with Yukiko rejecting his offer outright and him running off in a similar manner to a child throwing a temper tantrum. They watched him run off in the distance.

Flustered, Yukiko asked all of them a question they didn't have an exact answer to but could only guess. "Wh-What did he want from me?"

"A date?" Alyson suggested. It was the first thing that came to her mind.

Chie nodded. "Obviously, he was asking you out on a date."

"Huh? Really...?" Yukiko seemed confused.

From behind Souji, Alyson rolled her eyes. It appeared that Yukiko was the oblivious beauty; very pretty but not aware of the fact that she was, thus leading to confusion whenever boys came up to her and asked her.

Chie seemed put out by Yukiko's cluelessness, something she didn't hesitate to point out. "But then again," She added. "That was way over the top. It was creepy how he called you 'Yuki' all of a sudden."

The boy whose name they never got and who kept getting hit in the nads came up to them, walking his bike. He was already informed about the situation. "Yo, Yukiko-san. Turned down another lovelorn fool, huh?" He asked with a grin. He noticed that Alyson was hiding behind Souji. "Um... what are you doing?"

"Er...." Alyson quickly came out from behind her neighbour as her face flushed. Unable to find an excuse without being laughed at, stammered. "N-nothing."

He turned back to Yukiko. "Man, you're cruel... You got me the same way last year."

"I don't recall doing that." She said flatly.

"Woah, you serious?" He seemed absolutely delighted now. "So then, you wanna hang out sometime!?"

"...I'd rather not."

He sighed in frustration and muttered something underneath his breath before speaking out loud again. "Anyways, you better not pick on the transfers too much." He grinned before biking down hill.

Chie stamped her foot before shouting. "We're just curious, is all!"

When people began to stare at them, they walked away as if nothing had happened. Too bad they were in for more excitement.

* * *

**This was the shortest chapter so far. Oh well, I had to split up this part as well as the next. The few chapters is going to be talk, and then we get to the action of Personas! Yay!**


	4. The Body hanging from the Antenna

**Well, it's been quite a while since I've worked on this story huh? Sorry about that, but I'd been distracted by other stories that if I decided to write this when I wasn't interested at all, it wouldn't be very good at all would it? But enough rambling, it's time to start the story. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Persona, however I do own Alyson. **

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* * *

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**The body hanging from the Antenna**

"Ah... so you came here because of your parents' job?" Chie said. For the past ten minutes, she had been questioning Souji. "I thought it was something way more serious."

_Like what? His parents dying?_ Alyson wanted to say, but as usual, she kept quiet while listening in on the conversation. After escaping the questioning eyes of their peers who wanted to know what was happening, the four of them were now walking while Chie showed the new kids some of the sights.

They came to a stop by a field where rice was harvested. "There really is nothing here, huh?" Their tour guide admitted, sounding embarrassed.

Alyson broke off from the group and got a closer look. What she said wasn't true at all. Sure Inaba didn't have the kinds of shops that the large cities had and that it was in the country side but that didn't mean it didn't have it's own charm. In fact, Alyson kinda liked it better than the city. The air was clean and it didn't have the inconveniences that usually came with a city such as noise pollution.

"That is what make's it nice, but there's nothing much we can show to people from outside."

"That's not true." Alyson said referring to the part about nothing much being shown. She bent down to examine the water. "Inaba has a rice paddy field. That's something a city doesn't have. And it's pretty nice to actually be able to hear myself think." She really meant that. Inaba was a cozy place; the only detestable thing about it was King Moron.

Souji smiled. "Yeah. You usually can't do that in a city."

Chie crossed her arms and mock glared at them. "Hmph! You two aren't just saying that to make us feel better, are you?"

"No!" Was Alyson's immediate answer. She was irritated that a girl she hardly knew would think she'd lie about something like that.

But before the American could give the brunette a piece of her mind, Chie laughed. "I was just joking! You don't seem like the lying type. No need to get so uptight about it."

Alyson closed her mouth and said nothing more. It was better to talk once she calmed down so she wouldn't say anything that would offend her classmate. Well, there was that and Chie's kicks seemed pretty painful. She definitely didn't want to be one of her victims.

"Anyways it's nice of you two to say that, don't you think Yukiko?" Chie turned to the raven haired girl.

Once again, the girl in question wasn't paying attention. She was in a daze and didn't realize that her friend was talking to her until she felt their stares.

"Huh?" Yukiko said when Chie's question kicked in. "Yeah, it is."

Chie then went on to explain about Mt. Yasogami and how it was either the pottery, dyed clothes, and something else seemed famous. Kinda. And then she mentioned the Amagi Inn and Alyson perked up. She always wondered if the Inns in Japan stayed accurate to their manga counterpart.

"Yukiko's family runs it. It's the pride of Inaba."

"Huh?" Yukiko flushed, embarrassed. "It's... just an old inn."

"Oh, no way." Chie shook her head, disagreeing with Yukiko. "It's been in all sorta magazines as a hidden treasure."

During the ride to Inaba, Alyson picked up a magazine and read it out of pure boredom. Amagi Inn had been mentioned and was classified as a four star stay. In fact, if she ever got time after settling down the blonde decided that she would visit the place so that she could see what it was like. According to Chie, it was what kept the town's economy going.

While Chie boasted about it, Yukiko felt the exact opposite.

"I don't think that's entirely true." She said, huffily.

Nearby, there was a crowd gathering. They seemed to be whispering in hushed tones about something. They couldn't really hear, so out of curiosity they walked closer to the scene to find out what happened.

To add to the fire, the area the crowd was standing around was taped off by police tape. They could also see police officers positioned to make sure that no one snuck threw.

"Hey, what's-" Chie started to form her own question, when Souji put a finger to his mouth and pointed to a pair of women talking. They all strained their ears to listen in on the conversation.

"So that high schooler left school early, and as she came down this street..." Said woman #1.

"Wow. Who could imagine _**THAT**_ hanging from an antenna?" It was woman #2 who spoke next.

What were they talking about?

"I wanted to see it too."

Alyson sighed in irritation. It would've been nice if they specified what they were talking about instead of using 'that' and 'it'.

"You got here too late... the police and fire department took it down just a moment ago."

Finally, they got the answer to the question as to what had been hanging from the antenna. "Well, I think it's terrifying." Said #1 in a horrified tone. "I can't believe a dead body showed up around here..."

Alyson's stomach churned. Murders and crimes were common in big cities, not in towns such as Inaba. Hah. And Sayoko said this place was peaceful too.

"You call this nothing?" Alyson couldn't help hissing at Chie.

"I'm just as surprised as you are!" She hissed back. "Did she really say a 'dead body'?"

"She did." Souji said, cutting off the continuation of what was going to be an argument. He had a feeling there was a more... violent side to the other transfer student and he didn't think it was wise for her to unleash it in public, particularly near a crime scene.

Oh, and his Uncle was also heading in their direction. The detective didn't seem happy at all.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" He asked, reaching the group.

"We were just passing by." Souji explained. It wasn't very hard to come up with an excuse; they were in fact just passing by when they spotted the crowd. His uncle probably came over because he was there.

"Huh... I should have figured that'd happen." The detective sounded exasperated. "That damn principal. We told him not to let them through here..." The last part he said more to himself than them.

Chie stared at Souji and then Dojima. She was surprised by the casual greeting between them, even if Dojima's greeting sounded more like an accusation. "You know this guy?"

"He's my uncle." Souji said, turning to her.

"He's his uncle."Alyson said at the same time as Souji. Chie blinked.

"Wow, you two are in sync."

Dojima lengthened the explanation. "I'm Detective Dojima, his guardian." There was an awkward pause before he spoke again. "Uhh... Well, how should I say this..." Another pause. "I hope you get along with him."

His face turned stern as he looked all four of them in the eye. "But you four really ought to stop wandering around and head straight home." Before he could get back to his job, a younger man ran past him only to hurl in to the bushes. They all stared as he retched. Dojima was not pleased.

"Adachi!" He shouted at the man. "How long are you going to act like a rookie? You want to be sent back to the central office!?"

The man known as Adachi apologized and straightened up his posture. Though there was still barf dripping from his mouth. Alyson cringed and stepped back a few steps.

After they left, the four students began talking among themselves.

"Was this was what that announcement was about...?" Chie asked, standing on her tip toes to stare at the crime scene again.

"Probably." Souji nodded.

"What do they mean... it was hanging from the antenna...?" Yukiko was pale and by the expression on her face, also disturbed.

"That it was actually hanging from the antenna?" Alyson suggested. "That the body was hanging from the antenna in broad daylight?" She had all of them staring at her for that comment. Apparently if the American was fed up or impatient about something, she could be really, really blunt.

They were silent as they thought about it. Chie decided to cancel the trip to Junes she and apparently Yukiko were planning. The raven haired girl nodded in agreement.

"Alright then!" Chie turned to the transfers with a smile. "We're taking off. Starting tomorrow, let's do our best!"

_For what? _Was the thought running through their heads at the same time.

* * *

Alyson and Souji immediately headed straight home when they left the scene. Alyson waved good-bye and then entered the Sakuras' household to find no one else home. Sayoko and Keitaro were still at work and Koyoru was probably hanging out with her friends or something. Or attending Cram school if she went to cram school. Running up to her room, she threw her jacket and bag aside before leaping on to her bed. Today could have definitely gone better. First there was that stupid teacher.

And then there was that murder.

First day of her life in Japan and there was (well, had been) a body hanging from a television antenna. She certainly hadn't been expecting THAT. So coming to a conclusion, the day had been interesting. Not in a good way interesting, but interesting all the same.

Since there wasn't any homework on the first day of school, Alyson had the choices of either reading a book or going on the computer the Sakuras' kindly set up for her.

She had ten emails. One was an advertisement and the rest were from her friends.

Deleting the advertisement, she checked the list of people who sent her emails. They were from Lily, Morgan, Carter, Jenny, Keiran, Oliver, Tyler, Sarah, and Cassandra.

Basically, they were emails asking about how school was, what it was like in Japan, and when it she came back could she get them something? Oh, and as usual Sarah was obsessed with knowing if there were any mean girls in her school.

Stretching her fingers, Alyson started typing. She answered that school was pretty much okay other than the fact that she made it on to her homeroom teacher's shit list because he didn't like her mouthing off about how he should NOT insult his students.

_**Hi guys, it's Aly. **_

_**Yes, I realize I'm being lazy by typing up one email and then sending it to you all via contact list . Isn't the Internet amazing? I don't have to write out individual letters. Anyways, school was okay other than the fact that the teacher's a jerk and on day one I've made it on to his shit list. Guess what? I'm not the only new student in school. Or class. He's big news since he's from the city and yes, the teacher was being mean to him too. **_

_**Lily, I know you're going to ask this so I'll tell you right now: he's cute. No, I don't want to date him so don't even TRY to convince me to ask him out. Actually, don't convince me to ask anyone out. I don't want to date, especially in a foreign country. No Carter, I don't have anything against the Japanese but there's really no point in dating if I just stay here for two years. And Morgan? Don't even start.**_

_**Oliver, you asked if there was anything interesting?**_

Alyson paused as she considered if she should tell them about the murder. She decided not to, since knowing Jenny, she was going to scream the news out to the school.

_**No, nothing interesting happened other than the fact that my peers seemed REALLY interested in my hair color. **_

_**Since I have nothing else to write, I'm going to go now. Okay, see you. Bye. **_

_**

* * *

**_**Well, I had a hard time trying to end this chapter. Sorry I took so long finishing this chapter, but I've been busy and out of inspiration lately. Anyways, thanks for reviewing my previous chapters and I hope you like this chapter too.  
**


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